Long Odds
by mosylu
Summary: When Jyn and Cassian notice that they seem to be getting an awful lot of attention from the other rebels lately, they check in with Bodhi to see what he knows about it. Utter fluff and proud of it.


"Protein loaf again," Jyn said, setting her plate down. "Didn't we have that yesterday? And the day before?"

"We lost two supply ships to the blockades last week," Cassian said, washing his mouthful down with caf.

"So protein loaf for the forseeable future, is what you're saying."

He shrugged, chewing at the foodstuff with all the equanimity of someone who'd been eating military rations for most of his life.

She shook her head. After a similar amount of time wondering where her next meal was coming from, she truly appreciated that meals in the Rebellion were consistent and filling, if not always delicious. But protein loaf got old fast.

"You see that table over there?" she asked, taking her first bite and grimacing. "On your six."

Without looking around, he said, "The one that's been staring at us while whispering and giggling for the past five minutes."

"That's the one. What's that all about, do you think?"

"They're pilots," Cassian said. "Bodhi? Care to weigh in?"

Bodhi, just about to slide his tray onto the table next to Jyn, said, "How does he do that? He wasn't even looking up!"

"Spy," Jyn explained. "So? What's with all the sudden attention?"

Bodhi settled in and poked at his food. "Welllllllll," he said finally. "There might be some. Hm. Speculation."

"Speculation," Cassian said. "You mean betting."

"How," Bodhi said to Jyn. "Does he _do_ that."

"Betting about what?" she asked instead of answering.

"The two of you. And the nature of your relationship."

Jyn frowned. "Why?"

"Because we're eating protein loaf for the fourth day and the only excitement in the past three weeks has been when that new pilot took out the communications tower botching his landing. This entire base is bored cross-eyed. Who am I to deny them a little fun?"

Cassian stared him down. "So you started up a betting book. About us."

He spread his hands. "In my defense, they started the speculation themselves. I just took advantage of the situation."

"Why us?"

"You're heroes," Bodhi said. "Everybody knows who you are, but nobody knows what the situation really is between you. It's _ripe_ for speculation."

"You're a hero too," Jyn said.

Bodhi waved that off. "Ehhhh, but they know me. And you two are - you know. Heroic and tough and brooding and mysterious - "

Cassian's ears turned red. "I - um."

Jyn grinned at him before saying to Bodhi, "But I'm not brooding and mysterious."

"Kind of are," Bodhi said. "Also terrifying."

She sat back, pleased.

"Are you mad?" Bodhi asked them both.

"About the betting? Why?"

"It's embarrassing," Cassian said, ears still red.

Jyn patted his elbow. "So what are the different bets?"

Bodhi pulled his datapad out of his pocket. "Okay. So. I've got even odds that you're basically a pair of twelve-year-olds secretly in love, dancing around each other, missing each other's' longing glances, et cetera, et cetera."

"What," Cassian said.

"And then slightly better odds that you've just started dating and all you're doing is, like, making out in storage closets."

"That's sort of adorable," Jyn said. "Come on, you have to admit that would be sweet."

Cassian snorted and mashed the remains of his protein loaf into his plate.

"Now here's pretty good odds that you guys are just secretly sleeping together, friends with benefits sort of thing. Although it has to be admitted, most people who went for that really think you're secretly sleeping together but are even more secretly in love and unwilling to admit it to each other."

Cassian dropped his fork. "We're the base holonovel."

"Look, guys, three weeks of this lull! Not that I want excitement, exactly, but my brain is melting out my ears. I'm going to hold onto my sweet, sweet grey matter any way I can."

"We understand," Jyn said. "It's not hurting anything."

"Do we?" Cassian muttered.

"Is that all the options?"

"Mmm, one more. These are some long odds, by the way. There are some people who think you're platonic but just like super-duper tight war buddies." He looked up. "Which, I have to say, have they _seen_ you two look at each other - "

"Kriff it," Cassian muttered, now entirely red. "How do they think they're going to get confirmation of all this?"

"Well, that's the fun, isn't it? They observe, report back, speculate themselves to a fever pitch - "

Cassian groaned.

"Think of it this way, they're practicing surveillance techniques," Jyn said. "What kind of odds are they giving on us being secretly married?"

"That never entered anyone's mind."

"Bodhi," Cassian said. "You were _at our wedding."_

"It was a confusing day! Explosions and such, and then there was you two, thinking that some monk saying 'anything we can do to thank you for saving the monastery' meant performing a wedding ceremony. You can understand how I wasn't exactly sure what was going on." He chewed at the protein loaf. "I might have been high on pain patches, now that I think about it."

"Is this strictly ethical?"

"I'm not betting!" he said. "I'm running the book, that's all. It's everyone else who's coming up with these scenarios. I just calculate the odds and hold the money."

"Let him have his fun," Jyn said. "Hey, Bodhi, put me down for fifty on secretly married, would you?"

Bodhi gazed at her reproachfully. "And have to pay up when Draven finally gets back and learns that you up and married his best agent without running it by him first? I don't think you understand how gambling works." He took his tray and went off to join Blue Squadron, leaving Jyn goggling after him.

"Nice," she said. "Some friend."

"What happened to letting him have his fun?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you really mad about it?"

"Mmmmm," he said. "I just don't see how it's anybody else's business."

"Tad hypocritical there, Intelligence Officer Andor? And anyway, he's got a point. People are bored. They're going to speculate. In any group of people, gossip is the main form of entertainment. And if they were going to gossip about either one of us, they could find worse things than our love life."

"Hmmmph. I suppose." He scraped his plate clean and pushed it away. "Are you done with your protein loaf?"

She wrinkled her nose, but took another bite. "Why? You want it?"

"No, but if you're finished eating, I'll let you take me to a storage closet somewhere and skew the odds."

She dropped her fork and shoved her plate away. "I'm done."

FINIS


End file.
